Will You Be Allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven

Will You Be Allowed Into the Kingdom of Heaven?

Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness".

A lot of Christians are under the mistaken belief that by going to church and doing a few good deeds here and there that they will automatically be allowed into the gates of Heaven. Getting saved and accepting Jesus Christ as your savior is also not a guarantee that you will be allowed into Heaven either. In the passage above, it indicates that many people who arrive at the gates of heaven w ho have prophesied, cast out demons and even done a lot of wonders in the name of Jesus may still be told that they are not worthy of entering into Heaven. This can be a little confusing to most of us because most of us grew up thinking from childhood that if we are good, accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and become saved that we will undoubtedly be allowed into heaven. Throw in a few good deeds here and that would definitely solidify our entrance. This may come as a shock to most people (including me).

In our lifetimes, God will ask us to do various things for Him and in His name. That little voice that whispers to you when to do the right thing could actually be God giving you a command. Volunteering your time, spreading the word of God to a lost soul, comforting a loved one or even helping a total stranger—all of these could be God asking you to carry out an act in His name. God is a forgiving God, but when he asks you to do something you have to carry out that act the way he asks you to do it and when he asks you to do it. If you carry out his will whenever he asks then when you do arrive at Heaven’s gate, you will not be castaway as someone who never knew the Lord.

There will be a lot of people arriving at the gates confident they have done good in this lifetime and will be allowed into the Kingdom of Heaven but will be turned away because they did not do the Lord’s will. Are you sure you will be accepted into the gates of Heaven? Have you done everything the Lord has asked you to do? On judgement day, we will all have to stand at the gates of Heaven and be judged individually. The worst thing in the world would be to be told by the Lord, “Depart from Me, I never knew you". As of this writing I myself am not quite sure I have done everything asked of me…wait, I take that back. I am pretty sure I have not done every single thing asked of me but that was before I developed my own personal relationship with the Lord. I was a believer, Saved, and worshipped the Lord but it was not until recently that I began to truly understand what is expected of me and how to hear the Lord speaking to me. From here on out I will listen closely to that inner voice and guess what, you can too. It is never too late to change and it is never too late to ask for forgiveness.

If you are a lost soul, if you do not have a strong personal relationship with the Lord, if you are not sure you will be allowed into the gates of Heaven—I encourage you to join a church no matter how big or how small. Church is where I was finally able to truly cultivate my relationship with the Lord. I love my church, and I am sure you will come to love yours too.